Public Service Company of New Hampshire invests $10,000 inAfrican Burying Ground Memorial Park

Thursday, November 22, 2012

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Courtesy photo
PSNH’s Patrick McDermott (second from right) and Catalina Celentano (third from right) present a $10,000 check to members of the African Burying Ground Committee (from left) Mary Bailey, Nike Speltz and Kelvin Edwards on the site of the future African Burying Ground Memorial Park on Chestnut Street in Portsmouth.

PORTSMOUTH — Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) has donated $10,000 to the African Burying Ground Memorial Park, becoming one of the first major corporate donations to the project.

“We thank PSNH for their leadership in supporting the creation of the African Burying Ground Memorial Park in Portsmouth as a symbol of our collective history, black and white, across New Hampshire,” said Vernis Jackson, chair of the City of Portsmouth’s African Burying Ground Committee. “The PSNH contribution to the creation of the memorial park, We Stand in Honor of Those Forgotten, on Chestnut Street brings us another important step closer to our fund-raising goal of $1.2 million.”

PSNH supports the African Burying Ground Memorial Park as a model of community-wide participation in commemorating a little-known piece of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and American history. “The African Burying Ground in Portsmouth is the only DNA-authenticated African burying ground in New England and thus has national significance,” said Patrick F. McDermott, economic & community development manager for PSNH. The only other similarly authenticated African burying ground in lower Manhattan is now a National Park.

Catalina Celentano, PSNH division community relations manager also stated, “PSNH is proud to support the African Burying Ground as a priceless treasure, important to understanding the history of Portsmouth, of the Seacoast and of the entire state. By making this grant to the African Burying Ground, we, too, ‘stand in honor of those forgotten.’”

To learn more about the African Burying Ground, to make a donation or to get involved in the creation of the African Burying Ground Memorial Park — We Stand in Honor of Those Forgotten, visit www.africanburyinggroundnh.org.

The African Burying Ground (www.africanburyinggroundnh.org) was in use as early as 1705, but later built over, paved over and forgotten. The burying ground was rediscovered in October 2003 and a formal committee of citizens and City representatives was created soon after to explore and implement ideas for an appropriate commemoration of the site. In June of this year, seven signs were positioned around the site to increase the visibility of the African Burying Ground and inform passersby about the plans for the Memorial Park, We Stand in Honor of Those Forgotten, which will be built on Chestnut Street. Each sign tells a different part of the history and complements the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail Marker that was installed at the corner of Chestnut and State Streets based on historical records.